In the heart of the hammam, mothers, daughters, lovers, virgins, rebels
and religious fanatics converge. Some come for the laughter and gossip,
some for peace and quiet, and others come to cleanse themselves of the
physical and mental traumas suffered at the hands of the patriarchal,
fundamentalist society in which they live. Set against the backdrop of
the 1995 Civil War, Rayhana uses the formation of the Greek chorus to
display an incredibly important, contemporary indictment of the woman’s
role in Algeria. At a time when few such narratives ever make it to the
cinema screen, this is a daring debut from a filmmaker to watch.